Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy informed the Legislative Assembly that he would order a comprehensive investigation into the alleged insider trading of lands in Amaravati as directed by Speaker Thammineni Seetharam amidst heated arguments between the latter and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu over the powers of the Speaker to seek a probe in the matter.
Following Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy’s statement on Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020 in the Assembly on Monday, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said the Assembly was a quasi-judicial body which vested powers with the Speaker as ‘a judge’ to instruct the government on major issues such as the dubious purchase of 4,070 acres in a span of six months before Amaravati was declared as the capital.
‘Benami deals’
Mr. Rajendranath Reddy said Mr. Chandrababu Naidu had first said that the capital would be set up at Guntur and then Nuzvid and announced Amaravati as the capital after lands were bought by the TDP leaders in the names of their near and dear ones and fictitious persons and entities.
He alleged that Mr. Chandrababu Naidu himself purchased 14.22 acres in Kanteru mandal in Guntur district in the name of Heritage Foods and other TDP leaders who acquired lands were Public Accounts Committee Chairman Payyavula Keshav, former Advocate-General Dammalapati Srinivas and present MLA Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary, who then rushed to the Speaker’s podium and challenged that he would resign if proven guilty.
Mr. Rajendranath Reddy said the TDP government had leased lands in Amaravati at ₹1 crore to ₹4 crore per acre to Central government departments/agencies but sold larger parcels of land to private institutions like VIT University (200 acres), SRM University (200 acres), Amrita University (200 acres), Indo UK Institute of Health (150 acres) and Medicity Health (100 acres) at the rate of ₹50 lakh per acre.
Besides, lands were allotted to star hotels in PPP mode at prices far lower than that of the lands given to the Central government departments which include the Indian Army and Navy.
Intervening in the debate, Mr. Seetharam said since people needed to know the facts, the government was duty-bound to get the matter probed and as the Speaker, he could ask for a clear picture lest it should become a subject of intense speculation.
